Harry Potter and Love's Pain
by xchocolatethunderx
Summary: Harry doesn't really know what love is, but he thinks it's damn close to how he feels about his best female friend.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fan fiction, please go easy on me with the reviews. Sorry this chapter is short, I'll try to get better at splitting the chapters evenly and make them longer. I took the premise from the fan fiction "All Because of Hermione Granger" by Seel'vor and expanded it. I came back and fixed the spacing issues.

Life was sucking major dragon balls for Harry at the moment. The way he saw it, he had just lost another reason to fight for. He had wanted to fight the darkness in the heat of the moment, but he realized that Dumbledore had oh so gently coerced him towards that train of thought.

On top of losing his parents, on top of watching Cedric die, on top of watching Sirius die, on top of living with the Dursley family, on top of Dumbledore's gentle yet firm manipulations, on top of the many, many "…for your own good, Harry", on top of the fickle wizarding world calling him their savior one moment to an lying, attention seeking brat the next, on top of only being 15 years old, people still expected so much of him.

Out of all of his friends, only one person could come close to somewhat understanding how _just_ _Harry_ felt, not how the "Boy Who Lived" _should_ feel. Yes, Neville had lost his parents and his Gran put a lot of pressure on him, but the difference was that he wasn't at the center of attention at all times. Even his best male friend sometimes couldn't get past the fame.

The only person who could somewhat understands expectations and found herself in the tabloids, unwillingly and unwanted just like him. She had to plow through the mounds of discrimination; she had to live up to high expectations of being the smartest witch of their generation. Though their circumstances were different, they both understood, at least more than others did. Hermione Granger: the one who always stuck by Harry, the one who always looked out for him, the one who would do what's best for him even when he couldn't see it himself, the one that completely saw past his fame, the one that he lov- really cared for… as a friend, as a sister even. There was no way Harry could think of Hermione the other way, he wasn't even sure he knew what the other way really meant since he never was conditioned with it by the Dursleys.

Through all of their adventures and even times alone, he had never seen her look at him the way that he looked at her. He even thought she caught him looking at her, but quickly looked the other direction. But it was just a school crush, nothing more. It never could be. She had already come close to death within the last week and was already in enough danger just being friends with him. He could never live with himself if any more of his friends got hurt, much less the girl that he lov- really cared about...

On the other hand, he knew deep down that something stirred in his chest when his green eyes met those bright brown eyes. He felt something in his chest when she bit her lip, deep in thought, eyes bright and that something felt good. Now that he thought about it, it was a different feeling than with Ginny or Luna. Now that he knew that Love was the power to beat old moldyshorts and he had never felt this deep caring for any other person, let alone a girl, he had to at least do… do something. He could at least let her know about his feelings, even though he wasn't sure he could pinpoint them he could at least try.

But it was either now or never. Once he got off the train, it'd be directly back to Durzkaban, and he'd never get the courage to do it again. And seeing how Dumbledore had left Sirius and especially himself in the dark for the past year, he wasn't even sure he would be better off than Sirius was this past year. He didn't know if he could actually see the words written down much less actually sending it. His life was shitty enough as it was and he didn't know if he could handle more rejection but he's made through it before, how much different could this be? She was worth the effort, more so than Cho, and they had a good chance of staying friends afterwards.

Back in reality on the Hogwarts Express, Harry's friends were throwing him furtive glances. They were so used to seeing Harry taking whatever the world threw at him in stride, never breaking his gait unless it was to help his friends. The pain from losing Sirius and almost killing his friends still etched in his face was very concerning. They would try to include him in the conversation or in games of exploding snap, but he would only grunt in reply and keep his gaze on the passing scenery. Eventually the train slows to its stop at King's Cross and everyone started getting their trunks, saying goodbyes knowing that they'd most likely get separated on the platform.

Hermione turned to Ron and Ginny telling them, "I'll take care of Harry, you guys go ahead." With worried glances towards Harry, they both agreed saying they'd see them on the platform. Hermione turned back to Harry as both redheads left the compartment. Harry knew this was now or never, but it didn't take the edge off. He was putting everything on the line and he hoped it went well.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N I'm glad people seem to be enjoying how I started the story and are excited to see where it goes, no matter how few there are. I wouldn't mind more people enjoying it though! I have taken into account that the spacing in my last chapter wasn't really there, so I've tried to do it this time around. And yay for a chapter with dialogue!

"Harry?" Hermione asked tentatively.

The boy in question looked up from his hands to meet the worried brown eyes, and somehow felt slightly more at ease.

"You do know that none of what happened is your fault, right? Nobody blames you and neither should you."

With a sigh that felt as heavy as his soul and small tears forming in his eyes, Harry replied in a slightly exasperated voice, "But it is! People got hurt and S-Sirius died. And you were almost the same! I couldn't live with myself if I did that to a girl that I-" Harry caught himself and looked away.

Hermione, tears welling in her own eyes at Harry's pain, caught his sudden breaking off and latched onto it, a determined yet caring look on her face. "Girl that you what, Harry?"

Harry, still looking away, mumbled something that didn't quite meet Hermione's ears. "What was that?" she asked

"Ithinkihavefeelingsforyou"

Hermione had a confused look as she took on her "Hermione" voice, "Harry look at me and speak clearly please."

Harry took another deep breath and nervously met her eyes before saying, "I think I have feelings for you… like more than normal."

Hermione's eyes went wide with surprise for a second before she gained control of her features. Folding her hands on her lap, she said, "Harry… I don't think I'm ready for anything like that at the moment."

As soon as he heard the way she said his name, his shoulders slumped further than he thought possible and dropped his head in shame and embarrassment. He knew what she was going to say. He was wrong, completely, totally, 100%, fantastically wrong. This moment felt worse than anything the Daily Prophet or Fudge threw at him, worse than when everyone pretty much disliked him in his second year. With the emotional rollercoaster he'd been on the past week alone, this was too much for him. He knew their friendship was never going to be the same, if it even lasted. He slowly got up, still not meeting her eyes.

As he grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage he said, "Sorry Hermione, I hope this doesn't change too much between us." And he left the carriage, with her concerned eyes following him. After a few seconds, she quickly grabbed her things and followed him off the train. She waved to the Weasley's as she rushed to her parents. She had a smile as she told her parents, "He finally said something!"

Her mother, knowing what she was talking about, immediately smiled and hugged her daughter. "That's fantastic sweetie!"

Her father smirked, knowing about her crush on her friend. "What did you say back to him honey?"

Hermione's smile faltered. "I told him I wasn't ready for something at the moment. I've waited for 3 years for him to notice me like that and I don't want him to feel the way he does after all that's happened this year. I want him to like me for me. Plus, every girl has to play a little hard to get. Right?"

Her dad looked over her shoulder and said, "I don't know, princess. From what you've told us about him and the way he seems to be walking off, it might seem otherwise."

Hermione looked over and noticed Harry and the Dursleys walking away from some Order members. Harry was walking with a slump in his shoulders and staring at his feet. She had a strong feeling that Dumbledore was wrong about Harry needing time to himself to grieve and sort things out, but she didn't know what to do. Hopefully she'd be able to drop a few hints about how she really felt when things started to feel better… or when the guilt drove the common sense back into her brain.

Harry

They reached Privet Drive in what could have been hours or minutes, Harry didn't know. He had stared out the window yet wasn't taking in the passing scenery. Still feeling the emotional pain and rejection, he barely registered that Uncle Vernon parked the car and got out of the car and waddled into the house as fast as his girth would allow. Harry got out, knowing that his relatives wouldn't appreciate him lagging behind. As he stepped into the house, Dudley railed a punch into his stomach, already adding to his misery within 30 seconds of being "home". Harry used the washroom and brought his stuff to his room, only to hear the multiple locks clicking and sliding into place behind him. He didn't care. None of it mattered since Hermione didn't love him.

He curled into a ball on his bed and let the tears spill onto his pillow. He didn't know how long he was in that position. He couldn't tell the days apart because, the way he was curled up, he couldn't see the window, clock, and couldn't tell by his sleeping pattern. He couldn't fall asleep. When he could, the nightmares would wake him up. Always the same ones. Sirius falling through the veil, his friends getting hurt and blaming him, Voldemort, and Hermione rejecting him. Feeling his weakness, Voldemort fueled these wretched emotions, weakening him further. Harry didn't seem to notice and blamed his own guilt for never ceasing. The only thing Harry wished for in his decrepit state was the thing he muttered every so often. "I wish I was at the Burrow or at Hogwarts. Those were my homes, this isn't." Every time this wish was made, Voldemort grew more and more excited. Voldemort knew that every time Harry made his wish, he would weaken the blood wards around the house. Voldemort would strike when the wards were weak enough.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Hopefully I won't disappoint :)

Voldemort knew that for his plan to work, he would have to strike before they completely fell. If Dumbledore knew the wards were completely down, he'd establish new ones or take Harry away before Voldemort could say "Nagini".

Didn't Dumbledore realize that the Dark Lord now Potter's blood coursing through his veins, that the Blood Wards wouldn't work on him anymore? They would stop the Death Eaters, but not the Dark Lord because they recognized Harry's blood coursing through his own veins. 'It was as if Dumbledore was inviting me to cross the wards.' Voldemort thought to himself. But just to be sure, he would only cross when the wards were weakened by Harry's mantra of denying his relatives house as his own. If anything were to happen in their weakened state, they wouldn't be as bad as if they were at full strength.

On the third day after the term ended, Voldemort apparated outside the house. He stunned Mungdungus Fletcher, who happened to be taking a swig of fire whiskey while hiding in some bushes, with such force that he flew into the fence and fell to the floor with an audible crack and thump. Voldemort couldn't distinguish the crack from breaking wood from the fence or bone. He would have out right AK'd the piece of trash, but he didn't know if Dumbledore had any dark magical monitoring charms on the shady thief and didn't want to give anything up yet. Even if he had died, it wouldn't set of any dark curse indicators to let Dumbledore know one of his lackeys was under attack and injure or worse.

He pushed through the wards as if walking through a vat of molasses, continually feeling as if he was being held back. Only last year, the same wards would have incinerated any death eater trying to get to Harry. The door was blasted away and three quick AKs later, the members of the Dursley family lay slumped on the couch with their faces stuck in a expression crossed between surprise and confusion. He walked up towards the only closed and bolted door, knowing it was Harry's and blasted it open. Harry heard all of the commotion but never moved. He never tried to fight as Voldemort's high-pitched laughter filled the room. The last thing he remembered thinking before the red beam of light hit him was that he didn't care. None of it mattered, Hermione didn't love him and his life was shit.

Dumbledore

Dumbledore was studying his remaining silver trinkets, the ones that Harry hadn't destroyed beyond repair. Ever the past few days, they were acting very, very strangely. They monitored the blood wards around Harry's home. Usually, as anyone would think, the wards would slowly deteriorate during the school year while Harry wasn't there and would be functioning properly and start to recharge as soon as Harry stepped onto the property. Since this was the case, then why were they acting as if Harry had never done so?

He knew from Harry's Order guards that Harry was on the premises, so they should be perfect. Then all of a sudden, the functioning trinkets suddenly spiked into a frenzy. Dumbledore quickly tapped the silver instruments with his wand to confirm if there was a legitimate problem, since they were just acting so slowly he wanted to check in case they were just being faulty again. Just as he was about to raise the alarm, the trinkets stopped. It took Dumbledore a quick second to realize what that meant. His whole body seemed to tense and the wrinkles seemed more defined on his face as it took a scared expression, an expression that was rare for Dumbledore. It was something he feared every time Harry went to Privet Drive. Dumbledore sent a quick message to all of the available members of the Order before activating a portkey to Privet Drive. When he arrived, it was only another few seconds before there were pops and cracks indicating apparition around him. Kingsley, Tonks, Remus, Hestia Jones, and Arthur Weasley joined Dumbledore with concern and fear etched onto their faces.

All looked at each other and noticed with clenched stomachs and paled, fearful faces that the Dark Mark loomed above. Dumbledore gave quick instructions. "Kingsley, Nymphadora, and Hestia will set a perimeter and give cover on the outside while Arthur, Remus, and I will head in to check on Harry. Remus, lead the way since you know this house best."

Everyone broke at almost a sprint. They all saw the splintered door, not wanting to believe or think about what was on the other side. Dumbledore saw Harry's 3 family members lay out on the floor and blanched, not wanting to imagine what was in store for the last member of the family. Only him knowing how strong of a wizard that Harry was gave him hope. As the rounded the corner to Harry's bedroom, they all were as devastated as the wreckage of what was Harry's door in front of them.

They slowed to a careful walk, so not to be unaware to any surprise attacks. They looked into Harry's room and a complete lack of response from seeing familiar faces met them. Hedwig, who had been let out on the first day back, was circling the room screeching and hooting in indignation over her lost friend. She was unable to use her special owl abilities to locate where Harry was at the moment and was extremely tense at the fact that she could not go to his rescue, no matter what the risks were. A split second after the sight of the wreckage, they noticed that there was a certain air about the room that was lingering. It was the smell of unwashed body and despair.

It took a moment for them to process all of this information and Remus was the first to react. He dropped to his knees, his legs to weak to hold him up any longer. Tears started to stream down his face as he started to whisper, "…no… no… i-it can't… no, not a-again…"

Sirius had only died a week earlier and now his last connection to his best and only true friends was gone. The same friends who chose to be his best mates, not the ones he had gotten through association. The last connection to his friends, a person that looked up to him when all else seemed to be gone for his family only 2 years ago. It was too much for Remus to handle as he started to pull at his hair with one hand and pound the floor with the other while his whispers grew into full blown yells and screams.

Arthur, who was standing next to Remus, put an arm around his shoulders in hope that physical contact would bring him back down to reality. He then, trying to keep his own voice from cracking, told Remus, "We don't know what happened yet, Remus. We can't jump to conclusions. Would Sirius want you to spend your time in such a state before looking for Harry?"

These were the magic words that brought Remus back down. He knew Arthur was right. Remus calmed down enough to sit back and strain out, "We have to find him. I'm going to fucking destroy the sons of a bitches who took him."

Arthur agreed before looking over at Dumbledore, who had stepped into the room with his wand out. He began waving and jabbing it around and muttering to himself while walking around the room. While Albus was doing this, he turned to look around. Besides the door being blasted off its hinges, the room looked normal…

'Wait…' Arthur thought to himself, 'It looks _too_ _normal_ for an attack.' Harry's messy bed and untouched trunk also set off alarms. Why hadn't Harry unpacked? Was he that desperate for sleep that he didn't unpack? And why weren't there signs of a struggle? Surely Harry didn't go with the Death Eaters willingly! He would have fought back. Wasn't that the whole point of the kids' secret self-defense club at Hogwarts? Even if Harry were forced to retreat, he wouldn't have left Hedwig behind. She had been Harry's friend as long as Hagrid was. Even then, she should have been able to find him. Along with how dark wizards got into this house, it all seemed very fishy. Arthur could see that Dumbledore was about to finish up when he voiced these concerns.

Dumbledore finished his fancy words and wand movements before turning to the others. "It looks like there wasn't any direct dark magic used in this room, no magical traces of such are present. It also seems like there was only one powerful visitor to the house…" Albus trailed off. Both other men blanched knowing that could only mean the Dark Lord.

He then turned his attention to Arthur's points. "I believe that by the fact that Harry never unpacked and his bed being undone, it would seem that Harry only intended to stay for a short while. Perhaps rest and then take off. Harry's track record would strongly show that he's got a habit of following his 'fight or flight' reflexes to a fault, he rushes into battle and runs away from home. Though his things still being here would only mean that he didn't actually leave on his own accord. The lack of a fight then would point in the direction that Harry was so deep in his sleep and/or grief over his recent loss that he was unprepared to properly fight back. The lack of dark magic in this specific room would only point to him being taken. This would also indicate as to why his owl Hedwig has not flown off to find her master, as his magical signature seems to be currently masked. It seems as if the wards were weakened by Harry's continued dislike of calling this place home and finally decided to stop calling it as such. I have a hypothesis as to why they fully allowed Voldemort through though with seemingly little problems."

Remus spoke first after these points, as he stood up. He started off in a slightly hopeful voice, "No dark curses were used though, right? So Harry still has a chance to be alive and found! _He_ wouldn't have kept Harry alive for no reason instead of just…" Remus didn't want to complete his sentence, he couldn't.

"I have thought of the same thing Remus. Voldemort must have a reason to have kept Harry alive. I have a feeling it must have to do with his megalomania and ego. Voldemort always needs a stage and what better place to do what he intends than on a stage." Albus deliberately stayed away from the word 'kill' as to not cause a panic.

Arthur was next on the thought train. "Which means he'll want a big enough crowd to broadcast to. His only options are Hogwarts which is out of the picture since it is currently closed for the summer, the Ministry which is also out because there would be to much chaos in the sudden appearance of dark wizards in the presence of the Aurors' own backyard, and…"

"DIAGON ALLEY!" All three wizards exclaimed


	4. Chapter 4

A/N~ I went back and fixed the spacing problem in chapter 1. Hopefully this chapter keeps you interested :)

As they left the house, they saw the other three members of Order gathered around a heap of a person. Knowing that Dung was on watch today, the smell of stale tobacco and booze was of no surprise. Tonks turned to Dumbledore as he approached and had the 'pleasure' of letting the boss know of the bad news.

"Looks like Dung died from his neck being snapped, most likely on impact, along with some other bones… and the internal bleeding…" Tonks reported queasily.

As Arthur and Remus joined Albus, Tonks immediately noticed the serious tone that didn't have to do with the scum of the Order.

Kingsley seemed to notice as well as he took in the sight and situation, "Where's Potter?"

Dumbledore told them that everything would be told at the emergency Order meeting that was of the highest priority. Everyone was to attend, no matter what prior or current commitments dictated. As patronuses were sent to relay the message and Dun's body was sent to the Hogwarts Infirmary until burial, the group of 6 apparated to Grimmauld place. Minutes later, all members of the Order and the young Weasley children and Hermione were seated around the dining table.

The ever-observant Hermione was the first to ask a question on everybody's mind, with concern, "Does this have to do with Harry?"

Knowing that pleasantries were long gone out the window, Dumbledore replied, "Yes miss Granger, I'm afraid it is." Knowing by the way Dumbledore was acting, everyone shared worried glances. Ron even said "Shit" under his breath.

As Dumbledore relayed the information that was went over during the visit to Privet Drive, everyone visibly blanched, gasped, and yelped at appropriate times. As soon as Dumbledore was finished Ron jumped to his feet, wand in hand. "What the bloody hell is everyone waiting for?! Let's go people!" He yelled with his Gryffindor bum rush adventure mentality. Arthur had to pull his son back into his seat before telling him that they needed a plan before they knew what was going on.

Dumbledore then went onto laying down the plan of attack. Everyone got into the appropriate mindsets before off to start off their section of the plan.

A few hours later, after a warning message from Snape, who had been summoned by Voldemort and last minute instructions to pass word as soon as the Dark Lord was on the move. The Weasley family trying to make their way through Diagon Alley towards the Twins new shop. Hermione was in Florish and Blotts with her mother looking for books for summer reading. Hagrid was in Knockturn Alley looking for Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent. Remus was in the second hand robes shop.

Within a few moments, the DA galleons that Hermione had shown everyone burned in earnest. The adult Order members burst from the shops they were in while the rest came in through the Leaky Cauldron, yelling at the few shoppers present in the Alley to get into one of the shops. With a flurry of robes and a burst of light and magic, the order members were tossed to the ground bar Hagrid, who staggered back and held up a skillet size hand up to his face to cover his eyes from the blinding light, and Dumbledore who did the same.

When everyone got his or her bearings together, did they notice that a stage was erected in the middle of Diagon Alley. Surrounding the stage were multiple Death Eaters, who were standing on the inside of a translucent purple dome. On the stage stood sneering Voldemort and another figure bound to a chair. The figure was gaunt, pale teenage male with messy hair and a drooping head. Every member of the Order stood stunned for a second taking in the scene. Then Molly Weasley's voice broke the silence, "Harry? Is that Harry?! HARRY!" she screeched the last word. Remus and Arthur had to hold a now hysteric Molly back from running to her adopted son's aid. Tonks barely registered that she was transforming back into her usual form from her "Hermione's mom" disguise.

Voldemort's laughter filled the air at Molly's distress. Soon, the Death Eaters joined in as well. Dumbledore's voice broke through Molly's hysteric mothering and the dark wizards' laughter. "Leave the boy Tom. You and I can sort this out." Knowing this was a very weak point to drive, especially to a deranged Dark Lord no less, but he had to try. He had to stall.

If anything, Dumbledore only made the laughter louder until Voldemort spoke. "Really Dumbledore, do you really expect this situation to turn in your favor?"

Dumbledore spoke calm, keeping his voice in his signature grandfatherly tone. "I expect to leave with Harry."

Come now, Dumbledore. Even with the partial prophecy that I've heard, I knew all those years ago that I was to kill the boy. Doing so after he has been labeled the savior of the world makes it even sweeter, and on a stage no less!"

"Please Tom", Dumbledore continued as Voldemort hissed at him, "You do not know the rest of the prophecy and are on half facts." Dumbledore knew that whether Voldemort knew the entire prophecy, it wouldn't change anything. He was just hoping that for all of Voldemort's planning, he would falter in thinking that something could go wrong.

By then, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had snuck out from the shops that they were instructed to hide in to see what all of the commotion was about and see if they had in fact gotten Harry back. As they came up behind the adults, they took in the sight. Hermione was the first to react, running through the crowd screaming her best friend's name and up to the dome of magic before anyone could stop her, Ron and Ginny right behind her. Skidding to a halt, she started banging on the dome with her fist, knowing that it wouldn't work but having to try. Ron screamed, "Let go of our friend you bloody bastard!" while Ginny was in tears, just like Hermione.

Voldemort sneered down at the three teenagers as they were pulled back to the Order, his eyes falling on Hermione "How touching! Harry Potter's friends coming to see him die. Even the mudblood girl that he _loves_ is here, and all of the thanks fall on her shoulders." The members of the Order latched onto to this revelation, heads snapping back and forth between Hermione, Harry, and Voldemort.

"W-what…?" Hermione hiccupped, a look of confusion as she looked between Harry and Voldemort.

"Yes, it's all because of you that we were able to make it to this situation. I was able to pull it straight from the young brat's head over the past few days as his mental shields fell into themselves. Young, poor Harry fresh from his godfather's death, a death he so rightly blamed himself for, full of grief and guilt and oh so vulnerable."

"His friends don't fully understand what he is going through. But wait! There is one friend who could understand his pathetic hardships; a pathetic waste of magic mudblood had gone through similar problems and always stuck by his side. The one dirty blood witch who he had finally came to terms with his feelings with. And yet, when he voiced these feelings, all he got was rejection and a seemingly destroyed friendship." When their master had finished his tale, the Death Eaters jeered and laughed as they had never before. Above all, Bellatrix's cackle was distinguishable.

Ron had a stunned and shocked look on his face, as did Ginny. Though there was a hint of disappointment on her face. Hermione's eyes were as big as dinner plates, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. She had a feeling that Harry would take it hard, but didn't all boys take rejection hard? But then again, Harry wasn't like all boys. He was an amazing wizard who was emotionally weak and only barely held it together. Growing up with the Dursley's taught him how to mask his emotions and bottle them up. Only by looking at his gaunt features now, looking as if he had given up, did she realize how much she really hurt him.

Voldemort usually had to fib or twist the truth to make people feel fear, but now he was doing a perfect job without doing that. And she new he was telling the truth. She tried to catch Harry's eyes, but he was blankly staring at the floor just beyond his shoes. His eyes were no longer the bright green with a heavy determination that burned behind them. They were hollow and sightless, as if nothing mattered in the world and Hermione knew that she had pushed him past the breaking point. Now she knew what Harry meant when he said he could never live with himself if something happened to her, because she knew, as much as she didn't want to believe it, that she was going to have that feeling and there would be no going back. How could she have been so dumb?

Behind her, she could faintly hear Dumbledore mumbling urgently.

"Now girl" Voldemort continued talking, "You will be the one to feel the true wrath of the weakness of emotions. It will be fun knowing that the guilt of the Boy Who Lived's death rests fully on you."

Voldemort waved his wand and released harry from his bindings, explaining, "Let it be known that the great Boy Who Lived had the chance to fight, yet was such a disgrace, so weak, so wrong to defy the Dark Lord, that he never even raised his wand in defense." He forcefully thrust Harry's wand back into the owner's hand. He then yanked Harry's head up by his hair so he could look straight at Hermione's face. He raised his wand to Harry's famous scar. The Death Eaters were all yelling and jeering in their support and excitement as the members of the Order were yelling in a panic, pleading for Dumbledore to do something and begging Voldemort to stop. Dumbledore was staring at a point right next to the translucent purple dome as if urging for something to happen. "TOM, STOP!" Dumbledore finally roared.

Voldemort looked up a leer while asking Harry, "Any last words, Potter?"

Dumbledore had enough waiting, he finally raised his wand and started throwing spells upon spells unto the barrier, hoping to break it down by brute magical force and forgoing all of his usual finesse. Taking his lead, all the members of the Order raised their wands. Hagrid's pink umbrella even made an appearance. With all of the spells raining down on the dome, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody stepped back from next to the dome, dropping his Invisibility Cloak in the process. He was smart enough to get out of the line of fire before he too dropped his task of silent ward breaking and went for an all out tactic. All of this happened in a matter of a few seconds.

Through the entire ruckus, Voldemort noticed that the magical force field began to crack under the heavy strain of the magical blows. His voice rang out, "_AVADA_-"

Hermione, knowing she wouldn't get another chance, screamed, "HARRY, I LOVE YOU!"

"-KEDAVRA!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N~ I'm pumping these chapters out pretty fast. I hate waiting to read chapters, so I know how others must be. PLEASE REVIEW! I want to know if people like how this story is. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, it's actually wanted. Enjoy! :)

Harry was in darkness. He was surrounded by blackness. His mind felt blank, aware yet unaware, much like in his last moments of life. His surroundings were a direct match to his mind and emotion. Nothing mattered because Hermione didn't love him. There were things that lead up to his current situation, but Hermione didn't reciprocate his feelings and that's what tipped him over his breaking point. It was like Life wanted to see how shitty one person's life could be and Harry ended up getting the short stick. He remembered hearing something before he died. It was something about loving him. He heard the words, but not they felt foreign. At least he knew Sirius and his parents died because they loved him. SIRIUS AND HIS PARENTS! He would finally get to see them again! He was probably recalling how his mother told him that she loved him when he was younger right before he died. How fitting that everything seemed to come full circle.

As he was thinking about this, a faint light appeared around him. It grew brighter and brighter until he thought his eyes would water if he were alive. Then everything started to come into focus. He found himself in a nursery.

There was a crib next in one corner with a mobile hanging over it with a broom, hippogriff, a friendly looking of dragon, and shooting stars attached to it. The room was painted a light baby blue and there was a chest overflowing with baby toys, one of which was a toy broomstick. Dressers and a nightstand and a baby changing station lined the other walls. Harry could see pictures on the nightstand and went to go see whom they belonged too, though something was tickling the back of his brain telling him that he should already know.

As he picked up a frame, what he saw made him gasp and his eyes start to tear up. Standing in the picture, all smiling brightly, were his godfather, Remus, his father, and his mother who was holding a baby: him! The dirty rat bastard was probably the one who took the picture. He hugged the picture close to his chest and wept openly, knowing what he had lost and what could have been. He leaned against the wall and slid down, bringing his knees to chest as well. This was too much for the emotional rollercoaster he had been on.

He then felt arms going around him and a loving voice say, "My poor baby" and a firm hand gripping his shoulder. Harry immediately tensed up and his eyes snapped up. A mane of long, red hair met his eyes. His eyes fell on the hand gripping his shoulder and worked their way up to a spitting image of himself, only with dark brown eyes and a lopsided smile.

He gasped and whispered, "Dad?" and was met with a curt nod. Then looking back at the woman wrapped around him, "Mum?" Lily's grip tightened around her son in a positive response.

Harry let go of the picture and wrapped his mother in a tight hug and wept openly. But instead of crying tears of sadness of what he could have had if they were all alive, but tears of happiness. The happiness of finally being with his parents, no matter the circumstances.

After a few minutes, James finally spoke up, "Hey Lils, you gonna hog our son for the next century or am I going to get a proper greeting as well?"

Lily pulled back, wiping her tears and stared back into her own eyes that were in actuality her son's. She replied in the sweetest voice had ever heard. It was nothing like the screaming he had heard from the dementors. It was as sweet as sugar and Harry could listen to it forever. "Don't tempt me with a century long hug from our son, James. Give me an inch and I'll take a mile." She quipped

From the door, Harry heard a bark of laughter and a relaxed voice that was lost of much of its gruffness said, "She could always give those verbal quips as good as she could take them, James. She's a female Marauder if there ever was one." Harry looked over to see Sirius standing in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed across his chest. He had the widest grin on his face that Harry had ever seen. "Hey cub, long time no see. Did ya miss me?"

Harry quickly stood up, to stunned for actual words, and gripped his father in a big bear hug which was returned in earnest. Then he rushed into Sirius' arms, almost knocking him over. He didn't care if his eyes and face was drenched in tears or that his entire face was flushed. All he cared about was being with his loved ones and being able to physically embrace them. After all the hugs and tears were out of the way, Harry could feel the edge coming off his high as the surprise from seeing his expired loved ones slowly disappeared. His knees started to feel wobbly and quickly grabbed onto the side of the crib. Only then did he notice an extremely ugly and wrinkly baby laying in it. He didn't care if it looked like it was in extreme discomfort, it scared the hippogriff sized shit out of him! He quickly jumped away and stumbled into the rocking chair. He looked wide-eyed at his parents and godfather who had had a mixture of concern yet amused looks on their faces. He was about to ask what the bloody hell that thing was in the crib, but remembered who he was with; that question would be saved for later.

So instead Harry asked a question which he definitely wanted an answer to as soon as possible, even if it came out as silly as it sounded in his head, "Is this for real?"

Lily walked over and knelt in front of her son, took both of his hands in hers, and looked lovingly into his eyes. "Of course this is, sweetheart. Unlike those echoes that came out of Riddle's wand last year, we're real."

Harry released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding onto. "Good, I was just afraid that this was too good to be true. So is this heaven? It just seems like my old nursery. I thought it would be like a party up here with an all you could eat buffet where you never had to worry about getting full or fat like Uncle Vernon or Dudley… or something like that…" He trailed off, faltering towards the end. He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it; he was with Sirius and his parents!

"While that does sound like a pretty good heaven, we wouldn't know." James replied, dropping the glower he donned at the mention of his brother-in-law. At Harry's confused look, he continued. "The 3 of us never actually have been to heaven…" Harry raised his eyebrows. He was very, very confused now, but allowed James to continue. "…because we never fully died."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N ~ People may think my explanation of James, Lily, and Sirius is a little far-fetched, but my view is that magic can sometimes be that way. This chapter is pretty long when compared to my last few chapters. PLEASE REVIEW! I'd like to know how people feel about this story. Constructive criticism is more than welcomed, it's wanted. Thanks! Enjoy! :) ~

Harry reached a level of confusion he never thought possible, his eyes seemed to disappear into his hair and his eyes were as big as dinner plates. "What…? But- how…? Where? WHAT?!"

The three adults would have laughed at Harry's flustered confusion, if it weren't such a big deal. Sirius stepped forward from the door to stand next to James and Lily and started to explain, "We each have different and extremely rare events that got us here pup; here being a sort of limbo. We're not technically dead, but we're technically not alive either. With me so far?"

Harry thought he kind of understood, but still looked slightly confused and needed more information. But he nodded and said, "This is limbo and you're here not dead but you're not alive? But what do you mean by that?"

James turned to Sirius and said, "I think it'd help if we told him how we got here and what caused it."

Sirius nodded and said, "Yeah, that might make things a lot easier."

Turning back to Harry, he continued, "Bellatrix didn't actually kill me." He held a hand up to stop Harry from interrupting him and went on, "I understand that in the chaos of the battle, you may have thought that the spell she used on me would have killed me, but the actual falling through the veil was what brought me here."

"The spell she hit me with was not a _green_ Avada Kedavra. It was a _red_ spell. She had stunned me and I fell through."

"The veil was not originally made to be used as an execution device. It was more of a rehabilitation device. Ancient wizards- and witches", he said glancing at Lily, who was about to interrupt him spouting off about the gender inequality in his grammar, with a small smile, "used the veil to reform 'criminals'."

"Back then, they had a different view on crime. They saw a person who was doing something wrong was due to a lack of empathy and the inability to differentiate from right and wrong. So by this thought process, they viewed crime as caused by mental handicaps. The great rune masters had created the veil as a way for these "mentally challenged" individuals to shed the barriers that were placed or built within them and see clearly. The way they were able to force the people to complete this sort of journey was for the handicapped individuals to be placed in an inter-dimensional place, or what have you, with no outside interference or distractions. The 'mentally handicapped' individuals were able to look at what they did with an empathetic understanding and were able to see the differences between right and wrong. So in short, the veil was an inter-dimensional reform for mentally handicapped people who suffered from badness. "

"They were then taken out of the veil and were judged. If they truly felt remorse for what they did and developed an understanding of right and wrong on their journey through the veil, then they were deemed cured and were back to functioning members of society. If the opposite happened and they were not able or willing to see what they did was wrong and why it was such, they would be dealt with accordingly."

"As time went on though, the veil and how and why it worked was lost to the masses. That's why we moved on to using Veritaserum in trials and Azkaban and the dementors for punishment. Since there is little known about the veil now, I got stuck. I finished my trip down 'right and wrong lane', but with nobody to pull me out from the other side, I got stuck in the limbo of being done there and not being pulled out on the other side. The only major empathy trip I went on dealt with that so-called 'prank' I tried to pull on Severus that almost resulted in Remus biting a chunk out of his ass. I never thanked you for saving his and my asses James. Cheers!" He finished with a smile and nod to James.

"No problem, mate." James said with a smile, clapping his friend on the back. He then turned back to his son, who still wore a surprised look on his face. "I guess it's my turn…" He said.

He took a deep breath and started his story. "As you already know, that piece of shit, rat bastard sold us out to Voldemort."

All three adult faces darkened in anger, though Lily quickly fixed her face and continued to stare at her son's face. She took in every strand of hair, every crevice and plain, every movement of his facial muscles when he changed his expressions. She relished every single millisecond of it.

"You also know that Dumbledore had my invisibility cloak... Or at least he thought he did in the beginning." Harry couldn't see how that was really important and was confused to what his father meant, but allowed his father to continue without interruption.

"Son, have you heard about of The Tale of the Three Brothers by Beedle the Bard?" James asked. Sirius barked out a laugh, "Of course he hasn't. Those damn Dursleys denied him of everything magical as a child. And I don't think he would have had time at school to read children tales."

At the mention of how her sister's family treated her son, Lily growled. Harry looked at his mother and had a surge of affection towards her. She hated the Dursleys as much as he did!

"I haven't heard of the story", Harry replied to his father without taking his eyes off of his mother, "but I'd love for mum to tell it to me…?" He finished hopefully.

Never had he thought he would see someone visibly brighten the room to the point of blinding its occupants with happiness. Lily had the biggest grin that reached from ear to ear and her eyes were shone brightly with happiness and tears of joy at doing something as simple as telling her son a story. It took her a moment to reply from her maternal euphoria before replying, "I'd love to, honey." James and Sirius had warm smiles on their faces.

She started to tell the story, remembering the tale word for word having told it so many times to Harry as a baby, before his long-term memory had kicked in. She used one of her hands to animate certain points of the story, but always keeping the other latched onto Harry's. She unconsciously changed her voice slightly to match the characters of the story as only a loving mother could when telling her child a story. Harry was so engrossed in the story that he didn't seem to either notice or care. He had never had a loving experience like this and desperately loved it. He didn't care if it would have normally seemed silly for someone to be doing voices and animating the story with their hand, but bully to that! He absolutely loved it! At all the right moments, he would wear his expressions on his sleeves; making Lily all the more happy that she was doing a good job. At the end of her story, Harry was longingly looking at his mother, wishing for nothing more than for her to continue telling him stories. It was childish, but he never had a proper childhood. Anytime he was able to latch onto something that resembled one, he would greedily take hold of it.

"Wow" Harry whispered in awe. Lily smiled and took Harry's hand back into her's again. Sirius and James both had big grins on their faces throughout the story.

"Well now that you know the story, you'll be able to understand this next bit." James said. "The story your beautiful mother just told you is true." James was met with and incredulous looking Harry. "It is! Have you ever worn the cloak and noticed that spells never work on it? Or that, no matter what your mission was while donning it, you had a small sense of safety while wearing it?" Harry looked back at every time he'd worn the cloak and slowly nodded. "That's because we have Death's invisibility cloak. We're descendants of the Peverells, Harry."

"Bloody sweet!" was what James got in a soft reply.

"Now back to what that has to do with how I'm here in limbo. We didn't 'thrice defy him' by not being extremely careful." James added with a chuckle, "Maybe seemingly stupid on my part, but always careful."

"On the 30th, Dumbledore asked to borrow my cloak. Knowing that my cloak was needed more for my family's safety and wondering why Dumbledore needed to borrow an invisibility cloak when he could probably get a hold on many of them or make himself invisible with spellwork better than anyone else, I gave him a regular invisibility cloak that we kept for emergencies. Thinking he needed it for a stealth mission for the Order, I thought that was more than fine. The next evening when Voldemort attacked, I told your mother to grab you while I went to get our invisibility cloak. I threw it on to sneak past him to get to you and your mother, but he saw me. He threw a blasting curse at me but missed and hit the china cabinet behind me. Shards of wood and china found their way through the hem of the cloak and I was no more. Knowing I was done for, he moved on towards you and your mother. Since the cloak hid me from death, he couldn't bring my soul to the other side. I entered this limbo thingy before he could do so. I'm guessing the old coot realized he didn't have the cloak, so he must have stripped my body of it when he came to inspect the house." James growled out the last part, giving Harry the feeling that Dumbledore was less trustworthy than many people though.

"Boy, you guys weren't lying about extremely rare events. Its like the universe doesn't actually want you dead or something." Harry replied. Turning back to his mother, he quipped, "Let me guess, best for last? Most surprising? Wuddya got, mum?" He knew this was serious, but he was starting to warm up to this whole crazy situation.

Lily smiled slightly and replied, "Just like your father, you are." James beamed and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Except if he took after some of your brains of course, dear." He finished with a battering of his eyes to his wife that caused Sirius to pretend wretch, which in turn caused them to fall into laughter. After a few minutes they calmed down, clutching the stiches in their sides. Some how, Lily and Harry kept at least one hand connected throughout the laughter.

When Lily was finally able to speak, she looked back into Harry's eyes and started, "I guess it really is my turn now. When I willingly gave my life to protect yours, even after I was given the choice not to, I activated the ancient magics that we put in place with the ancient rune ritual we had done as soon as you were born. Even though I knew I had to die for you to be protected by the ritual, I want you to know that I would have been more than willing to do it either way. Please know that Harry." She pleaded to Harry, her eyes tearing up.

With the sincerity in her voice and the look in her eyes, Harry automatically knew she meant it, no questions about it. He pulled his mother towards him and hugged her tightly, whispering, "I know mum. I know. Please don't cry. Don't worry, I know." She hugged him harder, but still soft enough to be a mother's touch, at his acceptance. When they pulled apart, Harry swapped places with her. She sat on the rocking chair while he knelt in front of her, holding her hands. Neither of them was willing to break the contact.

"There was a side affect of the ritual" she continued, "that we had no knowledge of. It seems like the ritual we did dealt with soul magic. When I died to protect you, my soul was already intertwined with yours, as with most mothers. But when I was supposed to pass on, my soul was clung on to yours. Kind of like a Light horcrux when compared to Voldemort's dark ones. He used murder to create his while I used motherly love and protection."

Harry was wide eyed again. "So you were connected to me? That's probably why your screams when the dementors got close to me were so clear. Wow… Wait, so could you see everything I was doing?" He asked his mother warily.

Lily gave her signature laugh that made Harry's insides melt like butter. "Don't worry, honey. I knew when to block the connection when we both need to." Harry didn't know whether to sigh in relief or still be nervous about what his mother had seen in his private time.

Harry was just getting over his surprise when he finally remembered a word his mum used that he didn't recognize. "What's a horcrux?" He asked

"Ah, nice transition." Replied Sirius. "Since my family has the most dark arts experience, I guess I'll take the lead on this one. A horcrux is the darkest of dark magic, cub. In short, it's a soul anchor. A person who doesn't want to or is scared to pass over to the other side, like many ghosts, may choose to stay on the living's plane of existence. But coming back as a ghost isn't a good alternative to staying in the land of the living since ghosts aren't living. And in any case, a person may not have control over coming back as a ghost anyway. So a person who creates a horcrux creates a way for their souls to never leave earth. They stay as a spirit instead of a ghost. To create a horcrux, one has to do a truly despicable act. They have to commit a stone cold murder of an innocent. It is the most unnatural thing for a person to do. A ghost may 'come back' but they will always be dead, Death would have already added them to his collection. Someone who creates a horcrux takes that limitation away. Death doesn't get a full soul and hates partial payments."

Harry was turning whiter and whiter with every word his dogfather was saying and would have vomited if he were able to. "So how the hell did anyone think I would have been able to defeat him?! The lot of 'em are a bunch of crazy, no good, piece of shit wankers with their "Boy Who Lived", savior, and all the other loads of garbage they piled on me. Good riddance!" Harry spat.

It was Lily's turn to be upset. "Harry! Language! I know you're upset and let it fly for a while, but you will watch your tongue!"

"Fine" Harry grudgingly agreed, then in a softer tone added, "I'm sorry."

"I know, sweetie. Just cool it next time. I should know how you feel, you have my temper." Lily replied with a small smile.

Sirius tried to answer Harry's question, "They're usually destroyed by magical force, such as stabbing them with a huge basilisk fang that was petrifying muggleborns." He finished with a twinkle in his eye that was oddly reminiscent of Dumbledore.

"Wait… What?" Harry said, remembering that that sounded like something he had done in his second year. "You're trying to tell me that I already destroyed his horcrux?"

Lilly nodded, "Yes, one of them."

Harry realized something else. "One of them, as in there are plural. So Voldemort has more than one Horcrux?"

His mother nodded.

"Oh bloo-" Harry was stopped by a look from his mother. His attention was brought back to what was in the crib by its movements. It looked oddly familiar to something he saw last year. "What is that thing?"

The adults looked at each other, as if worried about Harry's reaction. Finally Lily replied, "Honey, you know how I said that my soul was anchored to you?" Harry nodded, not liking where this was going. "Well… Voldemort accidently did the same thing when he failed to kill you."

Harry blanched, he wanted to vomit and throw up. "That monster was in my head? No wonder why he's literally caused me so many headaches! So did that mean that I would have had to been destroyed for him to die?" Lily nodded, letting him work through his thought processes. "So if I had to have been killed to make him mortal, than wouldn't the prophecy only be true about him. I wouldn't be able to survive while he lived, but he could if I survived."

"Yes, but that's only working on half the prophecy. He marked you like the prophecy said, but he did it magically as well as physically. The scar is only a physical manifestation of the magical 'marking'." Replied Sirius.

"Which means you have the power that he knows not. You have the power to destroy Voldemort." James told Harry, finishing Sirius' thought.

"_Have_ is present tense, dad. I think you're looking for _had_." Harry said.

Sirius threw his hands into the air, saying, "Now I know he's your son and my godson. I guess I was hoping he'd taken after Lily after a while. I guess he wasn't listening when we told him we weren't actually dead."

James looked at Harry and had a small, mischievous smile that matched his eyes and said, "You _will_ beat him with some help from the people who love you."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N~ PLEASE REVIEW! Constructive criticism is more than wanted, it is welcomed with open arms! Please go into detail with things you like or dislike. Hopefully that would help me to improve. Thanks and enjoy! :) ~

The doors to the Hogwarts infirmary burst open and the Order members filed through, with Hagrid in the lead. As he carried the body of Harry Potter to the nearest bed, he allowed goldfish sized tears to roll down his face and a howl of anguish to escape his lips. Behind him were sobs and stunned expressions. As soon as he laid Harry's body on the bed, Hagrid took out a tablecloth and trumpeted his nose into it.

As questions were about to start flying, Dumbledore waved to the other adults to follow him to the other side of the hospital wing, giving the children their time to grieve over the loss of their friends. He sent those associated with the DMLE on their way, as he knew that their presence would be greatly needed to do some sort of damage control.

The Weasley children and Hermione stood around Harry's bed, tears flowing freely and a sob leaving one of the females every so often. Fred and George were as somber as anyone could be. It would have been outstanding to see them so serious if it weren't such a dire situation. They were indebted to Harry. Without him, they would never have the funding to start their journey to achieving their dreams. They would never be able to pay him back for his kindness now. Ginny was now unable to chase after her dream man. All the stories of the Boy Who Lived she grew up with were never going to come true now. She wept for the loss of her friend, the person who had saved her life, and the love she would never know was hers or not. She wept for all of the girls who dreamt of growing up to marry the fantasy of the Boy Who Lived. Ron dropped his tough guy act and wept for the friend he never really appreciated until the past year. He cried for the person that started off as the Boy Who Lived and turned into the boy who was his best friend, no matter his standing in the large family. Hermione cried for her first real best friend. He had knowingly risked his life by jumping on the troll's back to save her life. She, like Ginny, owed her life to him. Even with this debt, she was the reason that this situation came about. She wept out of sadness for her friend's death and guilt for being the catalyst for it.

"It's your fault." Said Ron in a near whisper, not turning away from his expired friend. The others slightly turned to him when he spoke, all knowing whom he was talking to. "It's your fault he's gone. I don't how, but it's you who caused this."

"Ron…" Hermione said in a strained voice.

"NO! Shut it!" Ron ground out, clenching his fists. "I don't care about who, what, when, where, or why. You said on the train that you'd take care of him. Look at where he is now. It doesn't take a know it all bitch like you to see that something you did caused this."

"I… I didn't… How was I… I didn't mean to…" Hermione frantically tried to explain. But in her panicked state, even the smartest witch of their generation couldn't get her bearings.

Ginny was on Ron's side. She turned to Hermione with a look and voice that would freeze hell over and asked, "What exactly did you do to him?"

Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Well… Harry told me he had some sort of feelings for me... I kind of feel the same way, but I told him I wasn't ready for something like that… Lavender and Parvati told me that _Teen Witch Weekly _said-"

*SMACK*

George and Fred jumped slightly as Hermione's face snapped to the side with a bright red handprint on her cheek. Ginny shook her hand in pain and was breathing hard as she glared at Hermione. "YOU LISTENED TO A FUCKING MAGAZINE THAT THOSE TWO BIMBOS READ?! ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID WHEN IT COMES TO SHIT LIKE THIS? THIS IS HARRY FUCKING POTTER! NOT SOME STUPID, NORMAL TEENAGE BOY WHO LIKES TO PLAY STUPID LITTLE GAMES WITH HEARTS AND LOVE!" At this, the Weasley parents rushed over to see what had happened.

"Ginerva! Watch your language!" Molly reprimanded, though her red rimmed, blood shot eyes took away from her motherly intimidation.

"I will not apologize for my reaction to this _mudblood's_ ignorance!" spat Ginny

It was Ginny's turn for a slap. "GINERVA!" Shrieked Molly.

"It's not Ginny you should be mad at mother" Said one of the twins.

"Yeah" said the other, "this witch over here is the reason why Harry seemed to have given up." He finished with a disgusted look and a jab of his thumb at Hermione's direction. The witch in question hung her head with a hand held tenderly to the spot where she was hit.

"Hermione? But… how? I know You Know Who said something about her, but I don't know what it was all about." A very confused Molly responded.

By then, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid had made their way over. Dumbledore, with his grandfatherly expression and twinkling eyes gone, requested, "Why don't we get Miss Granger's story."

All eyes were glued to Hermione in either an angry glare of confused stare. She kept her gaze down under the scrutiny and revealed in a thick voice her and Harry's conversation from the train, how she knew that they both felt something then and there but she denied him anyway, and her denying him because she took _Teen Witch Weekly_'s advice from Lavender and Parvati. By the end of her side of the story, they could see that she had tears dripping from her eyes to the floor.

From behind the group, they heard in a weak voice, "_*cough… cough…_ fan-_fucking_-tastic…"

All at once, the group snapped around and gasped. "Harry!" they all shrieked or yelled. Molly and Ginny rushed over to Harry's head and Molly gave a big kiss to her adopted son's head. Hermione was about to step forward to check on Harry, but a glare from Molly, Ginny, and Ron stopped her in her tracks. Harry wouldn't even look at her. His eyes seemed not to notice the particular space that she occupied. It hurt, but she knew she deserved every ounce of his hard feelings and her own guilt.

The group started firing off questions and concerned comments that were stopped by Dumbledore raising his hands. "I know you all must be rather confused, and I must confess that even I have a few questions myself. But Harry has just come back from the dead and Madam Pomfrey would send us all to Harry's previous position if we stopped her from doing her job. Though I might believe that would go against her Healer's Oath. As such, I must request that you all step out while I help Poppy with taking care of young Harry."

The contingent grumbled but begrudgingly left, Hermione a few paces behind the rest of the group.

As they were stepping out of the infirmary, Ginny turned her face halfway back and said loud enough for everyone to hear, though her words were directed to Hermione, "You still have explaining to do. Harry deserves more than anyone to know what and why." And with that, the door closed behind them.

"Poppy, why don't you grab a few potions from your medical storage while I run the diagnostic spells on Harry."

Madam Pomfrey quickly left, not wanting to waste any time in healing her most frequent visitor. Harry tightened his grip on his wand, which thankfully nobody removed. As Dumbledore raised his wand to run the first of the diagnostic charms, Harry sent a silent '_expelliarmus'_ at the elderly headmaster and caught the wand, thanks his natural seeker skills. The Elder Wand grew warm in his hands and he smiled at Dumbledore, who wore a surprised expression.

"Sorry Headmaster, guess I'm still on edge from getting an _AK_ to the scar. I guess you could say I can see I'm not as clouded as before." Harry twirled the wand between his fingers while he looked at it intently. Using his free hand, he tapped the place on his forehead that held his infamous scar, which seemed to have faded in the short time since he was hit by Voldemort's death curse.

"It feels nice being 2/3 of the master." Harry didn't have to look up to know what the headmaster looked like but still shot a glance at Dumbledore to know the old wizard blanched to the point of Nearly Headless Nick's hue. Harry silently chuckled at Dumbledore, knowing that the headmaster knew what Harry had said without him actually having to say it. 'Can his eyes get any wider?' Harry mused to himself.

After a moment, Dumbledore returned to his senses, yet kept his surprised look and asked, "What happened, Harry?"

"You saw what happened professor. Hermione even told you what caused it." Harry answered, knowing he wasn't really answering Dumbledore's question. Half answers seemed to be quiet fun for Harry.

"Okay…" Dumbledore said, knowing he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted. Though he did have quiet a good understanding of what actually occurred, it was always nice to have confirmation. With all of the speculation that Dumbledore worked with, even a small confirmation was a great gift. He continued in an exasperated tone, "How did you know about… what you know?"

"I've had help." Harry said simply, turning back to the twirling wand in his hand. He didn't want to have the headmaster using legimency to see where he got the help. Now that he didn't have Voldemort's soul stuck to his head, Harry had a feeling he was going to have an easier time learning occlumency.

"Help? What help?" Dumbledore asked

Harry chuckled at Dumbledore's exasperated tone and replied, "All in due time professor. Just trust me as you have wanted me to trust you."

Dumbledore paled slightly and Harry knew exactly why. Placing trust in Dumbledore was similar to placing trust in Voldemort. The difference was that Dumbledore requested his loyalty with well-placed half-truths and well placed coercion with a winning personality and the Light Side backing him. Voldemort demanded loyalty through fear, a variety of lies, and the Dark Side backing him. Dumbledore's way was better, but still frustrating and unfair.

Harry tossed _his_ Elder Wand back to Dumbledore, who snatched it out of the air. He quickly donned a disappointed expression as he realized that the familiar warmth that he had grown accustomed to since he defeated Grindelwald was gone. He looked back at Harry who said with a smug look, "Hold onto that for the time being. Must keep up appearances for the time being, until the time is right. Now why don't we get a pepper-up potion in my system and I should be good to go." The last part was directed towards Madam Pomfrey who had stepped back out of her office with a slightly affronted look. She had never had a patient come back to life, but she had a feeling that those who did shouldn't be cheery and on their way with simple pepper-up. She looked at Dumbledore with a questioning look and shrugged with his nodded. She picked out a potion vial she had in the bundle she was carrying and passed it on to Harry. Harry downed it in one gulp. After a scrunched up face and steam producing ears, he turned to Poppy and said, "Thanks Madam Pomfrey, you're the best." With a smile and a pat on his shoulder, she turned away and went back to her office.

Harry turned back to Dumbledore and decided to get the plan started. "Professor, given the situation of my last living arrangement is not longer working, I assume that I will be living with the Weasley's?"

As polite as it was, it wasn't a question. Even if it was, there were no other options. Dumbledore replied, "I believe so Harry. I will send you with Remus to gather your things while I speak with Molly and Arthur. I'm sure they'll be quiet happy that you'll be with them until you reach the legal majority."

Dumbledore left and a few moments later, Remus entered. Harry stood, ready to greet his parents old friend. His eyes were red rimmed; his face was colored and had streaks down his cheeks. As soon as he made eye contact with Harry, he rushed over to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Harry felt a slight wetness on his shoulder and accepted Remus' tears with grace.

After a few a few minutes, Remus's gained control of his emotions and in an almost whisper said, "I thought I lost you. I almost lost myself."

Harry quipped, "Ah Moony, where's your confidence? Death couldn't even get me when I was a year old. Heck, Death is NOT going to get me until I'm ready to go. I'm not going to make it that easy. And if I lost you, I don't know if I'd be able to save you too. And you know I have a saving people thing, so I'd be pretty pissy if I couldn't pull it off."

Remus pulled back and looked hard at Harry. Under normal circumstances, Harry may have squirmed under the scrutiny. But he just simply smiled back. Remus asked, "Me _too_?"

"One of the Marauder's rules was to keep them guessing until the big reveal. And will that be oh so wonderful Remus. Just trust and help me and I'm sure we all will be happy with the results."

Harry could tell that Remus' mind was going a hundred miles an hour, but after a moment he just nodded and said, "Anything Harry, I'm not letting anything bad happen to you if I can help it."

Harry pulled him into another, shorter hug and replied, "I know you'll keep that promise Remus, thanks. Now let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

"We shall." was Remus' reply. And together, they walked out of the infirmary.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N~ Not too exciting of a chapter, but even the slower chapters help stories along. PLEASE REVIEW! I like to see how people feel about the story and constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms! Enjoy!

As Remus was waiting in what was left of the living, he thought about the encounter in the Hogwarts infirmary. The confidence that Harry exuberated with the words he spoke gave Remus every reason to believe in his last connection to his only friends through Hogwarts. Remus couldn't help but not like that Harry was hiding things from him, but it felt so different than when Dumbledore did it. Harry was hiding something, yet he was upfront about it and gave out the promise of showing what it was when the time was right. Dumbledore made the effort to make people feel as though he would never _truly_ reveal everything and make them feel as if he had. Remus knew he wanted to follow the lesser of the two "evils".

Remus also thought about all the years that he was never there for Harry during the Dursley's abuse and never truly got close enough to him when they did meet. When Harry was hit with Voldemort's _AK_, Remus knew that he should have done more for the last connection of true friendship he had when growing up. Now that Harry was alive, Remus promised to himself that whatever Harry needed, Remus would be there for him. That's what Harry deserved from the beginning. Remus looked up at the staircase as he heard Harry's trunk thumping down them. Remus smiled at the way Hedwig was lovingly nestling her head into Harry's neck and face from her perch on his shoulder. It was nice to take in Harry's giggling as he stroked Hedwig.

"Ready?" Remus asked with a smile.

"Almost, just wanted to talk to you for a sec before we leave." Replied Harry. "I wanted to tell you that even though you have work to do with the other werewolves and work for the Order, I would have still loved to have stayed with you. But your work is probably a little more important than taking care of an 'attention seeking brat' like me."

"Nothing is more important than you Harry." Replied Remus with a wry smile, "But seeing as how werewolves would be dangerous even for you, I don't think that would be a good idea. You're safer with the Weasleys."

"That's what I thought." Harry said. "Before we go to the Burrow, I need to ask you a favor…"

"Sure, anything Harry." Remus said earnestly, happy that he could help.

"I'm going to have to go back to the Department of Mysteries, to the veil." Harry looked down. "I need to… mourn… properly. I need… closure."

Remus couldn't tell what the look was on Harry's face. It was a negative feeling, but it didn't exactly seem like sadness. Remus didn't know if that was really what Harry had to do, but he already promised himself that he'd give Harry the benefit of the doubt. Knowing it was either what Harry was saying or part of his plan, Remus replied in a soft tone, "Sure Harry, I assume you'd like your privacy?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Harry agreed.

"Alright Harry, we'll go before Sirius' will reading. His name will be fully cleared by then, so it'll make things a lot easier. I'm pretty sure Fudge will be bending to you and Dumbledore after all the shit he's put you guys through about You Know Who being back and were right all along. Hopefully he isn't out of office by then. We don't need someone giving some resistance to something like this." Remus said. They both stood somberly, reflecting Sirius before they were brought back by Hedwig's hoot.

Harry chuckled and said, "I guess that's her reminder to get going."

Remus nodded with a slight smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, lets get out of this hellhole." With that, Remus apparated with Harry to the Burrow.

The sun was starting to set as they arrived outside of the Burrow's wards, throwing Harry's favorite house into beautiful shades of oranges, pinks, and reds. He was happy to be back. They walked up to the gate before Harry noticed through the window that Mrs. Weasley was washing dishes. As Harry undid the latch to the gate, she looked up and a wide smile graced her face. She called over her shoulder and went to open the door to allow Harry and Remus in. As soon as they stepped through, two red haired streaks rocketed into him while he felt thumps on his back. It took Harry a second to let go of his things before he had his arms wrapped around Ginny and Ron. As he let go, he gave a nod to the twins and shook Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley's hand. Hardly letting go of Arthur's hand, he was grabbed into one of Molly Weasley's famous bear hugs.

As everyone calmed down, Harry was met with a light slap on the cheek. Surprised, he looked at who slapped him. Ginny had a cross look on her face as she scolded, "Harry James Potter! Don't you ever scare us like that again! We get enough of that throughout the school year."

Harry grinned as Ron lightly punched him in the arm and said with a hint of sincerity, "Yeah mate, don't pull that shite again. We care about you."

"It is nice to know that there are still _some people_ who care about me." Harry replied.

The red haired clan all shared glances, too nervous to say something in response; if they had one at all.

Molly was first to break the silence and said with a loving smile, "Why don't we get some food in you sweetie. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again, 'you look to peaky'. Let's get a few more pounds on those bones, shall we?"

"That sounds amazing, Mrs. Weasley." Replied Harry. She smiled as she heard him say, "I hope there's treacle tart" as the children made their way to the dining table. From the way he spoke, she knew it was the right decision to not have Hermione over for the holidays. Arthur put an arm around her shoulder as they watched the children interact, noticing how much happier they all were. It was obvious that they learned from what Harry went through. They learned that through these dark times of Voldemort, they could lose each other at any moment. That knowledge made them want to enjoy the time they had with their loved ones, because they knew that they may not be as lucky to get their loved ones back as they had gotten Harry back. Molly and Arthur shared a glance, both knowing that they other would support Harry more thoroughly. They knew of his past and all that he had been through. Even though they had always viewed Harry as an honorary Weasley, it was high time they actually supported him more than feeding him and giving him a place to sleep every so often.

As they sat down, Molly waved her wand to bring the food to the table. In a matter of moments, the table was creaking under the weight of the food. There were platters of beef and chicken, mounds of mashed potatoes, baskets of rolls, boats of gravy and other sauces, dishes of butter, bowls of cooked and fresh vegetables. If Harry had never seen how Ron usually ate or that there were eight other people with roughly the same appetite as him, he would have thought that there was no way all of this food would make it to stomachs. But then again, he knew better. At the end of dinner, much to Molly's protests, there were only a few veggies left over.

Harry set his fork onto his plate, which was clean of all traces of treacle tart, leaned back in his chair and patted his bloated belly. He let out a content sigh and said with a smile, "Mrs. Weasley, I know I say this every time I eat your food, but you've outdone yourself. Each of your meals has been my favorite."

Molly affectionately smiled at her surrogate son and said, "I'm glad you enjoyed it sweetie. I just hope you can eat like this everyday, you are too skinny!"

"If the rest of your meals are like this, then we have a deal!" Harry said with a small laugh. There were chuckles around the table at his proclamation.

Mr. Weasley looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Alright everyone, bedtime!"

There were groans all around the table. Even though everyone had had a long day and was ready to hit the sheets, nobody wanted to actually go to sleep. Harry turned to Ron and told him to go on without him. Ron reluctantly agreed.

Harry turned to Molly and Arthur. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here."

"Don't worry about it dear, it's our pleasure." Molly replied, waving off his thanks.

Harry donned a tentative demeanor and continued, "There is something that I wanted to run by you though…"

"You can talk to us about anything, m'boy." Arthur said with a warm smile.

Harry shyly smiled back, "Thanks Mr. Weasley. I was talking to Remus earlier and he already said that he approved and would take me." Harry said as though another adult's approval would ease the possible tension. "I wanted to visit the Department of Mysteries… you know, to have some closure."

Molly and Arthur were both slightly taken back, but did a good job of hiding it. They glanced at each other. They knew that Harry wanted to visit veil to say his last goodbye to Sirius. Who were they to say no to something like this? Molly had never had full closure of losing her twin brothers in the last war, so she completely understood where Harry was coming from. She could never hold Harry back from this. And both Weasley parents already had a silent agreement to support Harry as much as they could; and if he needed this emotional support, than they could not disapprove.

"Of course that would be fine dear." Molly said with a soft tone.

"Yes, that'd be fine. Just let us know when you're going." Arthur added.

Harry smiled brightly and thanked both of them with a hug to Molly and a handshake to Arthur. He bid them good night and headed up to Ron's room, hoping that his friend was already asleep. Not that he didn't want to talk to him, but because he just didn't want to do it just now. It could wait until another time. Luckily, he was asleep when Harry got there. Harry quickly got changed and got into his cot and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, a slight smile on his face. That night he dreamed of his future plans and hoped they went off without a hitch. He had never wanted something more in his entire life.


End file.
